


assignment

by kontent



Series: hand in hand [1]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Fae & Fairies, Fake Science, Gen, Human Jack Dalton, Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 15:51:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19406488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kontent/pseuds/kontent
Summary: Fairies have wings - humans do not. That alone might be the most significant difference between humans and fairies, a purely physical thing. Jack has always wondered how it would feel to have wings. Are they like normal limbs? Can they fall asleep? Are they ticklish? Are they heavy?





	assignment

**Author's Note:**

> There'll be more mini-fics for this universe! I decided not to do one big plot, so you're getting small scenes instead.
> 
>  _“Come away, O human child!_  
>  To the waters and the wild  
> With a faery, hand in hand,  
> For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.”  
> ― **William Butler Yeats** , The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats

Jack has one default obsession: fairy wings. Which sounds weird, he knows that, thank you very much. But Jack’s interest is of scientific nature. There’s always been speculation about how different humans and fairies are, both anatomically and psychologically and culturally, and while Jack doesn’t mind talking about the latter ones, it’s the first one that has always been the most urgent matter.

Fairies have wings - humans do not. That alone might be the most significant difference between humans and fairies, a purely physical thing.

Jack has always wondered how it would feel to have wings. Are they like normal limbs? Can they fall asleep? Are they ticklish? Are they heavy?

It’s one of his favourite things to think about. He's just very, very curious about wings, okay? But the problem is this: Fairies have their own communities - there is little contact between humans and fairies (ignoring the fairy tales and horror stories children have been told for centuries). So it seems unlikely he'll ever get to ask a fairy about them. 

He had thought that due to his work for the CIA and then the Phoenix Foundation, Jack was more likely to get to meet a fairy one day. They had to communicate with the rest of the world  _ somehow _ , right? And working for the American government seems like the way to ensure he’ll get to meet even the most reclusive people. However, so far he’s met no fairies at all. It sucks a little if he’s being honest. 

Anyway. Jack is just really curious about fairies, so he should be happy. But he isn’t really prepared when he gets the assignment.

He knows he looks a little stupid, gaping like a fish, but… he’s supposed to do what?

Matty is one of his oldest friends, so she lets him think it over. It’s a little hard to wrap his head around the assignment, because… “You want me to team up one of their agents?”

“One of their scientists, yes.”

“A  _ scientist _ ?” This assignment is going to  _ suck _ . Jack has been teamed up with scientists before - human ones so far, but whatever - and it always went downhill. They assumed he was a stupid idiot with a gun, he assumed they had a basic understanding of military training, and, last time, it ended with someone getting shot. Only in the leg, but Matty wasn’t happy. Jack wasn’t either, so at least they had that in common. He is not keen on a repeat performance.

He throws his hands up. “Oh, c’mon, Matty! Remember how that went last time? Why do I always get the babysitting job?”

Matty looks at him like he’s an idiot. It’s a look he’s used to. “First rule, Jack: Do not under any circumstances offend them. We need to be on good terms with them.”

Jack wants to protest. He would never fuck this up on purpose, he’s just worried that it will go downhill anyway. A glare from her makes his mouth snap shut - she’s serious about this then. 

“So, what am I supposed to do on that assignment? Investigate with the nerd, help with the case? Or am I just there to protect them?”

The look on Matty’s face softens a little, so she looks less like she’s going to smack him on the back of the head. “Your mission is to protect the scientist while you both investigate. There have been multiple cases of abduction of fairies in the past few weeks, and their agency is afraid that they might be in the hands of humans, subjecting them to experiments.”

Jack can feel a shudder run down his spine. It’s bad enough when people start messing with other humans, but after the existence of fairies came out, there had been a big discussion if they should have the same rights as humans. Because technically they aren’t… human. The whole discussion had made Jack sick. Those are  _ people _ , not some plants. 

And now someone might be experimenting with them. Jack has been long enough in this business to know that, if that is what’s happening, they will probably be treated even worse than human victims would be. Psychos who abducted people rarely treated humans well, and they surely won’t treat people they assume lesser-than-human any better.

Jack can feel his mouth settle into a grim line, nodding at Matty.

“Who am I working with?”

The change in his behaviour seems to appease her, but her eyebrows draw together, making her look displeased nonetheless. “We don’t know yet.”

He can feel his own surprise. That’s… uncommon. Usually, he gets all the info about his partner beforehand. “Any reason why?”

Matty makes a sound that Jack puts somewhere between a huff and a sigh, but it definitely sounds annoyed. “They are, apparently, currently still figuring out who’s taking the assignment. I don’t know why they have not settled that beforehand, but I assume it is because of the sensitivity of this case.”   
Her eyes get a little sharper, focusing on Jack. “We can not afford to fuck this one up, Jack. You better be on your best behaviour, or I’ll have your ass shipped back to Texas.”

Jack raises his hands in mock surrender. “No messing around, ma’am. Understood.”

Matty shoots him another look before she sends him away. Jack is barely out the door when it hits him that this means he’ll actually get to interact with a fairy. Maybe this assignment won’t suck, after all.


End file.
